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“This comes with father and mother's kind love to
you, letting you know that we are all main glad to hear
you are alive, and come home again to old England, for,
certain sure, we all thought you had been dead a long
while ago; so when father put on his spectacles, and
began to read your letter, I thought as how I should
have sounded for joy; for indeed, and for sarten, Miss
Becky, I would walk a many long miles to see your
sweet face. Oh! dear, if you was but as rich, and as
happy as you are good, and as we all wish you.—

“As to your mother, we are deadly afraid she has
made but a poor hand of marrying again, for old Serl
was but a shabby kind of body, though he pretended to

be so grand, and tried to make folks believe he was a
gentleman.

“To be sure they did flash away about a month or
two after they were married, and Peg Serl had a mortal
fight of new cloaths, but for all she never looked
like a lady. Father said as how you looked more like
one in a linen gown, and your nice curling hair without
powder, than she did in her silks and sattins, and her
hair plastered up with grease and flour; but after all
they did not hold out long. Serl did not use your poor
foolish mother well; he kept an impudent hussy almost
under her nose, and used to be always a drinking and
sotting, and so the sinery all went away by littles and littles,
and then they got sadly in debt, and at last went off
to London, without letting any body know about it;
but cousin Dick was in London last Martinmas twelve
months, and he said he saw Mrs. Serl go into a house in
Westminster, but she looked main shabby, and we never
since heard nothing about her.

“Father bid me tell you, that he read in the newspaper
how that Sir George Worthy was married to a
great Lady; but father says he could not have found a
more better Lady than your own sweet self, be the other
who she may, and we all thought as how, when Lady
Mary (bless her dear name)! took you to live with her,
that we should one day see you come back to the village,
Lady of the Manor; but it can't be helped, marrying
and hanging they say goes by fate. Mother and father
send their kind love and duty to you, wishing you a
good rich husband, and soon; and so no more at present
from your's to serve till death.